Niya Irving greeted Kassandra Himes and her five children with a warm smile as they entered the large auditorium in the basement of Saint Paul RiverCentre June 28. Himes, a single mother who moved to St. Paul from Chicago in April, was in need of help.

While a Ramsey County judged ruled June 29 that some services that help the poor and vulnerable are “critical” and would continue to be funded during a state government shutdown, other funding — including child care assistance — would stop.